


make time to live a little

by spocklee



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-25 12:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6194557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spocklee/pseuds/spocklee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>sometimes even Linda is a little shy and Iris is a little unsure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to my friend, Heather, who helped me brainstorm

The balancing act went like this; she could finish the article by working all night and blow the cover on a corrupt politician or drug ring or whatever scumbag was in her sights for the month, or she could leave on time and have dinner with her family. She could start something new and go prowling about at all hours of the night to prove whatever she needs to prove, or she could take the vacation days building up in her HR file and go somewhere, even if it’s just back to her own oversized apartment with a rent price meant for two. Sleep in. Watch TV.  She could meticulously edit the conclusion of a five page exposé that might get cut to two, hoping that with some trick of prose she can make people pay attention, and that people paying attention would somehow slow down the apathetic rush of crime that always seems to be growing faster than she could find. She could stare at her computer in the dark office or she could feel useless. She could think about Eddie or she could do everything possible except think about him, or her father’s new wrinkles and fears, or Barry’s new life that seemed more and more distant from her everyday, or her mother who was only her mother too late. Or Eddie.

“Iris?”

Iris jumped in her chair. It was only Linda, who had been at her own desk for the night working on a piece about an athlete; he was abusive, and famous, and the piece was likely to get rejected because the paper didn’t want the heat. Linda had been off the clock for the past week on it, the glow of her computer like a lighthouse across the dark abstraction of chairs and desks between her desk and the front doors. A small soft part of Iris’s heart wanted to tell Linda to go home, to accept that the piece wouldn’t even be published. It was only a small part though. The rest of her understood. There was always the chance it would be approved, which was enough. The edges of Linda’s face lit up and faded as the headlights of a car outside on the street passed by.

“Hey, Linda. What’s up?”

“I was going to leave, but I was wondering if you, I don’t know, wanted to get coffee or something?”

Iris, amiable expression in place, tried not to show her confusion but could feel it leak through in the furrow of her eyebrows, “It’s pretty late, I don’t know if any coffee places are still open.”

“Well, maybe like a bar or something?”

“That’s really sweet, Linda, but I really want to get some work done on this.”

Linda, to her surprise, didn’t respond immediately, but instead gave her a searching look. Not quite a frown, but a certain worrying twist in the mouth. Iris ignored the flicker of annoyance it gave her to see it. Her voice became tight.

“What?”

“Do you work here late every night? I only noticed this week. You’ve gone home even later than I do.”

“I do what I have to do to get my work in on time.”

Again, Linda just stared at her. She blinked, unphased, in the light of Iris’s computer screen and desk lamp.

“So, this is due tomorrow?”

“No,” and before Linda could say anything else, “I’m sorry, but what’s the problem?”

Linda flinched, just a millisecond before closing her eyes and shaking her head, “Nothing, I’m sorry, there’s no problem. I’m being pushy. It’s just-“ she looked away, adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder, “just promise me you’ll give yourself a break soon. That’s all.”

Iris’s face relaxed, though the polite smile had already faded, “Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

Linda brightened, her voice lifted but with a forced laugh underneath, “Good! You work hard all the time, you deserve it! I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

And then she was waving goodbye and Iris watched her walk through the doors and watched them close gently shut, before realizing she had failed to say anything back.

-

The next day, Iris walked to Linda’s desk, this time under the bright fluorescent lighting and through the stream of coworkers. She watched Linda’s fingers, nails manicured but clearly bitten short, tap at the keyboard until she realized she was there.

“Oh, hey, Iris.”

“Hi, Linda, I… I wanted to see if… maybe you wanted to get that coffee? Like, today, at lunch?”

Linda blinked, surprised, and Iris felt a wave of unfamiliar embarrassment creep over her before Linda smiled.

“Yeah! I would love to. I was just about to finish up something, did you want to go now?”

“Um, sure. Yeah, that would totally work.

Iris watched Linda save her file, and close her laptop. When she stood up from her desk there was a second where they simply stood staring at each other, before Iris remembered to move, and before Linda followed after.

-

Jitters as always. Linda looked at the menu over the registers and her mouth quirked up, and when she ordered a ‘Flash’ she winked at Iris.  

They sat down, and the surprisingly nervous ache in Iris settled enough that she could speak without stumbling, “Last night… “

Linda hid her head in her hand, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to nag you, I just… We never hang out, you know? I mean, except for that time you babysat me when my clone or whatever was trying to kill me.”

Iris found fondness about the memory, “I got some pretty good food out of it at least.”

“I guess.”

Linda idly rotated her cup, her overpriced sandwich pushed to the side, “It’s just that nobody at the office really… thinks like you do, you know? And it’s so nice to have someone else who really cares about what a good article can do for people.”

Iris looked into her own drink, her lipstick already printed on the edge of the cup, “I’m glad somebody doesn’t just see me as a busybody who takes everything too seriously.”

“No way! Iris, you’re a total badass! You’re gonna get a Pulitzer probably. Like, at least one.”

Iris grinned, “If I can handle competing with you for it.”

“Please. I mean, I love writing for sports, but I doubt I’m going to get much credit for it.”

“Are you kidding? Linda, I know about that article you’ve been working on the past few nights. It’s so important-“

“-and it’s never going to see the light of day.”

Iris’s jaw set, “You wouldn’t have been working on it so much if you actually believed that.”

“Maybe… maybe if it’s really good, then they’ll publish it. But it has to be really good.”

“I’ve seen your other stuff, Linda. I know you can write well.”

Linda gave a small smile, and then winced, “I know you’re busy, but if I asked you to read over what I have, and maybe give me your opinion-“

“I would say yes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I would love to.”

With her hands folded around a warm mug and Linda’s face breaking into a real smile across from her, Iris was aware of something flipping in her stomach.

-

“So what did you think?”

“It’s good. Your introduction is too long though.”

“… What do you mean?”

“It’s good! It’s really good, it’s just… you don’t need a lot of this stuff at the beginning. Readers will want to find out what you’re exposing immediately, they’re not going to be patient.”

Linda pursed her mouth, and Iris set down the draft in her hand.

“What.”

“Nothing.”

“You asked me to give you advice, Linda. Don’t be weird about it.”

Linda avoided her eyes and looked out the window, sitting in the same spot they had picked the three times they had met for coffee. Iris raised her eyebrows and decided a more direct approach was called for. She pushed the draft to the side and picked up her drink.

“I mean, unless there’s a very deliberate reason that you spent the first half of this article saying the same vague thing over and over again, and I’m just missing it.”

This at least got Linda to look back at her, with a sharp uptick at the corner of her mouth and a slight glare in her eyes. It wasn’t angry, or even offended. It was more like she was daring Iris to keep talking, to just come out and say what they both knew.

“I can’t pretend I know why you wrote it that way. But I know that when I write overly long introductions, it’s because I’m afraid to get to the point. Like, I’m scared that people won’t read it, but I’m also scared about what will happen if they do.”

Linda’s face softened, “Yeah. Maybe that’s why I do it too. I’ll cut it. Thanks, Iris.”

Iris shrugged, but knew by Linda’s laugh that there was no hiding she was pleased.

-

Linda submitted the article and a day went by when they didn’t talk, and then another. Linda was friendly, and would wave hellos, and Iris knew there was some step that it was her turn to take, but she kept to her desk. She went back to working alone at night.

She had made friends in college easily, as simple as introducing herself to the person sitting next to her in class or telling jokes in study groups. Nobody had ever replaced Barry, or even come close. And then she had spent less nights at friends’ apartments in order to interview strangers about strange sightings, or to lurk under streetlights for a glimpse of something bizarre. The gap between her and Barry had started, and she had gotten this job, and Eddie had died, and the gap had never really closed. She didn’t keep in touch with anyone else. It never occurred to her to; she loved people and the energy of being in the crowd, but there was something thrilling about being alone and not having to smile for anyone else’s comfort. How many friends would want to join her in investigating criminals with superpowers? Who wouldn’t belittle her excitement over a sighting of a man on fire? Eddie had come close, Barry had been a constant, her father loved her unconditionally. And even they didn’t understand some fundamental truth that she had only recently allowed herself to discover; Iris West finally felt moved. She saw a divide in the timeline of her life; a young woman who was restless and convinced she was content, and then abruptly there was this longing she hadn’t known existed. She wanted to go out alone at night. She wanted to confront corruption. She wanted to be demanding, and let herself move through life like someone who wasn’t afraid. It was worth any danger to be this version of herself, to feel complete.

So when she thought about Linda, things became complicated. Linda was brave, and funny, and it wouldn’t be the first time Iris had met someone brave and funny, but there was some key difference she couldn’t quite describe. It was cliché, and assumptive, but the closest she could put her finger on it was that she felt in her a kindred spirit.

A third day passed, and Iris received an email outlining the next issue. She skipped to the sports page. Under ‘By Linda Park’ was a familiar opening sentence. She didn’t overthink the rush of excitement in her chest, and saved and closed her laptop before she could argue against it. She walked to Linda’s desk.

“Iris! What’s up?”

“I just saw the email! Congratulations.”

“Oh, yeah! I actually wanted to thank you. I don’t think it would have gotten published without your help.”

And then that sudden shyness that only seemed to show its head around Linda, “Oh. Yeah. Of course, it was no problem.”

Iris stood there and let Linda tilt her head at her.

“Iris?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to get drinks tonight?”

“Yeah. That sounds nice.”

“You’re not working late or anything? I don’t want to wreck your schedule.“

“No. I don’t have any work tonight. I’d love to get drinks with you.”

-

Iris learned with certainty that Linda was obnoxious. It was a beautiful kind of audacity, like a bright color or the harsh chord of an electric guitar. There was no self-conscious restraint, no friendly smile always in place. She watched her banter with the bartender, cheer sincerely for the timid band in the corner, and throw her head back and cackle when Iris winced at her shot of tequila.

“Hey! Give me a break! I don’t do this a lot!”

Linda smirked and then took her own shot, only to cough violently, ”Oh, oh God. Nevermind. Wow, I forgot what that feels like.”

Iris laughed.

-

She still went home alone Monday through Thursday, although occasionally Linda appeared at her side to ask her to go to lunch, and Iris would agree to any place she suggested in great detail. Friday, Iris would take her step, and ask Linda if she wanted to go out for the night.

Sometimes it was a bar, but then it was the movies, or Jitters if they were still open, or even just a walk that went nowhere in particular as the summer sun set late and the smaller shops began to close.  Sometimes Linda’s hand would happen to brush against hers and suddenly she would step further away as they walked, and Iris didn’t quite understand it but didn’t think to ask. She couldn’t think of a way to say, “I don’t mind if your hand touches my hand, I like it when you’re close enough that it just happens like that.”

-

A few months, and to Iris’s frustration one week, she could sense the same secretive discomfort growing in Linda that she recognized whenever someone was keeping something from her. She walked to Linda’s desk and stood there without saying anything, an eyebrow raised in waiting.

“Iris! Hey.”

Iris just tapped her foot, but felt her suspicion at equal weight with endearance. Linda sighed.

“I’ve been acting super weird this week. I know. I can explain.”

Iris let her other eyebrow raise.

“I wanted to ask you to get drinks tonight.”

Iris stopped tapping her foot and frowned, “But we do that every Friday. What’s weird about that?”

Linda turned away, her lips pursed, her familiar gesture in rare sheepishness, “It’s weird because I wanted to ask you out. Like, as a date.”

“Oh!”

“Yeah.”

Iris’s arms uncrossed and fell at her sides, then recrossed, then fell again. Her hands settled on her purse uselessly. Iris was reminded with no pleasure of Barry’s confession. A friend who wasn’t quite happy as a friend. Linda looked pained.

“I’m sorry. I really like being friends with you, but I realized last week that I have, um, feelings that are probably actually inappropriate for a coworker now that I think about it, but that it would be weirder if I didn’t tell you. So this is me telling you.”

And there was the key difference between confessions; Linda was telling her now, and not a decade late. Linda was biting the bullet because she knew that this was the kind of thing Iris would want to know, even if it made things awkward. Iris felt her hands relax.

“Linda-“

“It’s totally fine if you don’t want to go out, I just thought, you know, better honest than-“

“Linda. Relax,” Linda’s eyes widened as Iris held a hand up, “I’m not saying no. I’m just… surprised. And I’ve never dated a woman, and I’m not saying no to that either, but… what if we just take this very slowly? I just can’t really promise that I’ll want to be anything more than friends, but… I don’t know, I guess. I’m sorry, I know that’s kind of wishy-washy.”

Linda blinked, and then grinned, “No problem. I can do slow.”

-

The maybe-date wasn’t so different from their other Fridays. Linda walked further apart from her than usual, and never seemed to stop making pointless observations of the street. She was nervous. It made Iris feel calmer despite her frantic pulse.

They sat down, and Linda immediately began a conversation with the bartender. Iris leaned her elbow on the counter and watched, amused, until he managed to escape Linda’s claims that she could read people’s palms. Linda exhaled and looked at the wall. Iris burst out laughing.

“What?”

“Linda, relax. It’s a kind-of date, not a job interview,” she let gentleness replace the teasing in her voice, “We’re already friends. So just start there.”

Linda took a deep breath, and Iris fought another urge to laugh, although by the look Linda gave her from the corner of her eye, she knew it was obvious. Linda just smiled that little daring smile, the one that meant she could handle whatever challenge she was being given. Or that she could at least fake it.

“So. Iris.”

“Yes, Linda?” Iris felt close to mild hysterics, and had to lift a hand to her mouth. Linda raised her eyebrows and mouthed ‘don’t’, despite the grin on her own face. Iris blinked and tried to look serious; Linda rolled her eyes.

“If you were in my position, how would I flirt, respectfully, with you on this date?”

Iris propped her chin on her hand, “Well, you could pay for my drinks?”

“Okay. That’s a good start.”

Iris winced, “And also some onion rings? Because I’m really hungry?”

“This better not be a long-con to get my onion ring money, West.”

“You caught me. Write an article about it.”

Linda laughed, and then paused to scratch idly at something stuck on the bar top, “And what else?”

“You could tell me I look nice.”

Linda huffed, “Iris, you look gorgeous, but that’s not exactly unusual.”

“Hey, I’m giving you some good tips right now! You could maybe do that thing people do with their feet, you know?”

Linda laughed loud enough that the man behind her startled, and Iris finally let herself laugh back, “What are you talking about?”

“You know, like,” Iris demonstrated by brushing her shoe against Linda’s ankle, and her voice lost its volume when she saw the way Linda tensed, “like that.”

Linda’s smile was small as she imitated the movement, and Iris felt her own chest rise at the contact, “Like that?”

“Yeah. You could do something like that.”

Iris didn’t trust herself to say that all Linda really had to do, to make it seem like a date, was look at her in those little shy glances that weren’t teasing or joking. Iris could see how just those moments might win someone over, if it was from the right person.

-

Linda, at Iris’s request, walked her to her apartment. The closer they got to the front steps, the more Linda hung back, as if she was prepared at any moment to turn around and run home. Iris would just look at her over her shoulder, a quirk in her eyebrow that said ‘keep going, we’re not there yet’.

They made it to her door. Linda bounced on her heels, looking away. Iris fiddled with her keys for a full minute before rolling her eyes despite the affection welling up in her lungs.

“Tonight was nice.”

“Yeah! Yeah, it was nice.”

“And here I am… standing in front of my door. At the end of our date.”

Linda froze, “So it was a date?”

“Yeah. Maybe we could it again? If you’re free, and still want to, of course.”

Linda spoke so fast that Iris almost missed her answer, “Yeah! Yeah, no, of course, I would love to. Um, is Tuesday night too soon? We could do something earlier in the day? Or just wait until Friday again.”

“Tuesday’s fine.”

Linda nodded, and took a step back, and had turned halfway before turning back, taking two steps forward, and kissing Iris lightly on the cheek. Then she was quickly on the sidewalk, already walking backwards.

“Tuesday! And I mean, if anything comes up, you can just tell me at work. Because we work together.”

“Yes, we do, Linda.”

“Cool. Goodnight. Bye.”

“Goodnight, Linda.”

Iris watched Linda nod again and then walk as fast possible to the end of the street, where she could just see Linda throw her arms in the air and spin around before passing behind the corner building entirely.

Iris opened her door, stepped inside and closed and locked it, took off her shoes and set them aside neatly, and breathed. Then she tossed her purse on the floor and fell on the couch, where instead of thinking about anything she was doing she just smiled at the shape of her ceiling fan in the dark.

-

On Date 3, Iris let Linda kiss her cheek again but made sure to grab her hand before she could spring away. Iris paused to take a breath before leaning forward. She paused again, just an inch away from kissing her, and waited for Linda to meet her in the middle.

-

-

-

Caitlin pulled Barry aside in the lab with an excuse for Iris and Linda about some increased speed in his most recent treadmill test. She shut the door behind her with an easy click, and then turned to Barry with raised eyebrows. He gave her a curious look back.

“So what’s going on with my speed? I’m getting faster?”

“What? No. Or I don’t know, whatever, I made that up. I just,” she bit her lip and shrugged with a roll of her shoulders, “You know. Linda and Iris are visiting, and I don’t know if you already knew they were a couple … but I wanted to make sure you weren’t… feeling weird about it.”

Barry’s eyes widened, and then he grinned and rubbed the back of his neck, “Oh, yeah… I guess it’s pretty weird. I mean, it’s fine, but yeah, it’s a little strange that my ex is dating someone I’ve been in love with since I was a ten.”

“But you’re… okay with it?”

“Well, yeah. Like…” he tilted his head to look past Caitlin and through the glass wall of the lab, to where Iris was laughing about something Linda was saying, “Ever since Eddie died, Iris has been so different. Like something in her was just… subdued. But when I look at her with Linda, she just looks so happy again. Like she’s not holding something back anymore.”

Caitlin tried not to look completely unconvinced, “But you and Iris…”

Barry shook his head and grimaced, “I don’t know. After Eddie died, and dating Patty, and seeing us married in another world but it wasn’t entirely _us_ … She’s always going to be important to me, but suddenly it just doesn’t seem so… I don’t know. I guess I always figured that I could make Iris happy, and now I see her with Linda and I know she doesn’t need me that way. And,” he stopped looking at the floor and lifted his head to look her in the eye, “It just doesn’t bother me anymore.”

Caitlin half-glared at him, looking for the signs that he was lying or in denial, and let out a soft ‘oh’ when she realized he was sincere.

“Yeah.”

She hummed, “And how does it feel?”

He gave a second look at Iris through the glass, and Caitlin turned to see her and Linda notice them, still in the middle of giggling. They waved. Caitlin heard the warmth in Barry’s voice as he waved back.

“It feels pretty great.”

-

-

-

-

-


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> linda time.

Linda had never really met Joe, only really coming into contact with him in a hurry as she agreed to be bait for her own double (clone? doppleganger? twin? no word felt right for it). He had seemed kind, and helpful. She knew from Barry that he was a cop, and had raised him since he was a child. He was Iris's father.

 

She learned more as the weeks went on. Iris would roll her eyes and smile at a text he sent her, and explain to Linda that he was making chicken pot pie and complaining that Wally didn't know how to cook. Little mentions of him like that; my dad covered someone's shift yesterday and worked twelve hours straight, my dad and Barry are trying to convince Wells to watch _The Godfather_ with them instead of sulking, my dad sent me an old photo he found of me on Halloween dressed as Spiderman but with a tiara. Dad wouldn't tell me who the Flash was, insisted I couldn't know, Dad wouldn't let me be a cop. Dad didn't want me to marry Eddie.

 

Linda understood. Iris didn't even mean to describe Joe West; he just came up enough that he pieced himself together. She saw the way Iris smiled talking about him, but always the slight sigh held back. The ever present _I love my dad, but-_

Joe West loved his daughter. Linda knew that concretely. He was overprotective to the point of fault rather than quirk, and constant in turn. He would always be there for Iris, but it could be suffocating. How could it not be? Iris, the most defiant person Linda had ever met, expected to be a permanent obedient daughter.

 

Iris would ask about her own parents, and Linda would shrug and say she loved them, but they didn't quite get her. It felt ungrateful to say more. Linda had stopped going to family reunions because she could only be pulled aside and asked, _Why can't you just stay quiet? Why do you always have to make an argument out of everything?_ before she quit. She would like the photos posted online, and she would call her parents and answer questions in a voice a little more cheerful than usual. _How was Jenny's wedding? I couldn't make it, I had so much work, I can never turn it down or they'll never promote me, you know how it is-_

So when Iris asked Linda if she would like to have a casual dinner with Joe, and Barry and Wally if they could make it, Linda was initially just glad it wasn't her own family.

 

-

 

Linda remembered, about three seconds after Iris knocked on the front door, that knowing a lot about Joe was not the same as actually knowing him. Iris, holding her hand and probably able to feel the sudden clench in her palm, gave her a worried look.

 

"Linda? Hey, babe, are you okay?"

 

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little nervous."

 

"He'll love you," Iris smiled, and for a moment Linda remembered she'd probably run through fire and even an awkward conversation for just that, "Trust me."

 

The door opened, and Linda watched Joe's face melt from blank to adoring as he saw Iris and brought her into a hug. Before Linda and him could exchange do-we-hug-or-do-we-not-hug looks, Barry appeared at the door, and Linda lunged forward to say hello, if only as an excuse to make it inside the house.

 

-

 

She had wondered for the last three months if Joe West would actually like her, in person. If Iris had told him anything. Linda writes for sports. Linda doesn't know whether or not to grow her hair long again, Linda wants me to take photography classes with her and I keep saying yes but we can never actually plan it, Linda likes to cook dinner for me but only knows four meals despite knowing every restaurant in the city, Linda has pretty eyes, Linda tries to teach me how to dance and I broke a lamp in her living room, Linda just laughed and laughed and didn't care and told me not to move until she'd cleaned up all the pieces. Linda always wakes up before me, but it's okay because Linda always falls asleep first.

 

But Linda never asked Iris if she told her dad anything about the two of them, and when she sat down at the dinner table, she wasn't even sure if he knew they were dating. Was he supposed to? Was it a secret? The answer appeared to be yes, he already knew, as Iris stopped on the way to her own chair to bend down and kiss the crown of Linda's head, and to stroke her hair as Joe sat down at the head of the long table.

 

"You want any wine, babe?"

 

"No- no, I'm fine. Thanks, Iris."

 

Joe had made pot roast. Barry and Wally were seated across from them. Iris's hand brushed hers occasionally, and Linda and Joe exchanged pleasant questions and answers. Linda smiled and laughed and passed mashed potatoes, all the time waiting for some sign that Joe approved. She started losing the trails of conversations as she overanalyzed the occasional glance towards her; did he think she was weird? Did he think she was suspicious? Oh God, what if Joe thought she was some sort of criminal based on how weird she was acting? It was a vicious cycle of failing to act like a normal person and then worrying it was obvious she was failing to act like a normal person.

Wally and Barry started arguing about whether Joe should shave or not as he went to the kitchen to get dessert, and while they were distracted she felt Iris grab her hand under the table, and turned to see her concerned face.

 

Linda only smiled, and blinked fast and curious as if she had no idea why Iris would be concerned, and dinner continued.

 

-

 

Iris drove her home in Joe's car, and when they pulled up to her apartment and Iris turned off the engine, she exhaled and tapped her fingers against the wheel.

 

"You gonna tell me what's been bothering you tonight?"

 

Linda leaned her head back against the passenger seat and popped her lips, "Maybe?"

 

Iris didn't laugh. Linda rolled her shoulders.

 

"I don't think your dad likes me."

 

Iris's face softened immediately, "What do you mean? I thought you both got along really well. You seemed distracted maybe, but nothing bad."

 

Linda shifted in her seat so she could lean against the door and stop looking out the windshield and at the 'NO PARKING' sign right in front of the car, "Maybe it's not that he doesn't like me, I just mean... He doesn't think I'm good enough for you." She waited for the inevitable assurances that he did despite the doubt that would crawl into Iris's voice.

 

"So?"

 

Wait.

 

"What?"

 

"So what if my dad doesn't think you're good enough to date me?"

 

Linda squinted, "I mean, it would be kind of nice I guess-"

 

Iris leaned forward and kissed her. Linda smiled on reflex; it always seemed so funny to remember how shy she had been the first time they had kissed, but Iris had picked up confidence quick. Iris's hands came up to hold her face, and she pulled back gently.

 

"Linda, my dad doesn't think anyone is good enough for me," another kiss, this one chaste and short as a smile broke out on Iris's face, "but I think you're good enough for me. I wanted you to have dinner with my family because I love you."

 

Linda's eyebrows shot up on her forehead. Her stomach rocketed up her chest. Her heartbeat felt like it had taken up residence loudly behind her eyes. It was probably not healthy to feel this way.

 

"I love you too."

 

-

 

Sometimes, if neither of them could sleep in on weekends, a series of clumsy-fingered texts would be exchanged as early as 5 am, if they had not already stayed the night with each other.

 

_you up?_

_yeah_

_wanna go play basketball_

_yeah, Parker Street, 6 am_

Linda would wonder, if she was walking the several blocks to the court alone as the sun rose, if this was the kind of thing they would still do if they moved in with each other. It was kind of nice to walk alone, listening to birds and watching the few other people awake, or passing the church and seeing groups of well-dressed Catholics if it was the right time of morning. She would get to the court and see Iris, or get there and wait for Iris to see her, and she would breathe easy. She wanted them to live together someday, but there was something about meeting her while the sky was still pink, while nobody else was around and the streets were quiet. They would smirk at each other to be competitive despite sleepy eyes.

"Ready to get smoked, Park?"

 

"Iris, you haven't won a single game yet."

 

"There was that time I beat you at HORSE. I'm just warming up."

 

"You're warming up over a period of weeks? That's not how that works-" Iris knocked the ball out from under Linda's hand and raced off to the other end of the court, and Linda just blinked slowly and watched her miss a lay-up. Iris let the ball bounce off the rim and roll across the court and up against the chain-link fence that separated them from the sidewalk. She put her hands on her hips.

 

"Like I said. Warm-up."

 

It then became clear that Iris was more interested in blatantly pretending to stretch than in getting the ball. Linda groaned as she jogged over to pick it up, only to smirk as she heard Iris start shouting accusations of cheating after her as Linda ran to the other side of the court. She chucked the ball cleanly into the hoop, and barely had time to step forward to grab it as it fell before a vengeful Iris was already traveling it back to her own side. Linda tried to yell after her that dribbling was the first rule of basketball, but it dissolved into laughter as Iris missed her shot again anyways. 

 

She hoped they never stopped doing this.

 

-

 

_i'm not going to work today_

_you feeling alright_

_i just need to stay in_

_want me to come over after work?_

_yeah_

_ok_

_and don't dress nice, i'm in sweatpants and i don't want to be the only one_

_we can't both fit in your sweatpants_

_omg stop_

Linda put her phone away and made coffee. She drank it in front of her window, a little bit of dread in her stomach.

 

-

 

At work she assured everyone who asked that Iris was just a little under the weather, and left early to pick up congee in styrofoam cups at their favorite take-out place. She opened Iris's door with the spare key, and kicked off her shoes in the little hallway. In all honesty, she hated Iris's apartment. It was too big for one person. Sometimes at night it felt haunted, but Linda avoided thinking that through.

 

There was faint music coming from the bedroom, some soft female singer. Linda put her purse on the floor, made sure the door was locked, and called out.

 

"Iris?"

 

"Linda?"

 

"Hey-" she walked into the bedroom to see Iris lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling with a greasy cup of coffee and her laptop next to her, "Uh. You know you have a bed, right?"

 

Iris shrugged, "It's a lying-on-the-floor kind of day."

 

Linda paused, then set down the plastic bag that had become unsettlingly humid with steam on the walk over, "Here. Eat this. The one with beef has a red post-it on it. I'm going to change in the bathroom."

 

Linda wiped off her make-up in the mirror, and found the pajamas she had left from the last time she was over, folded and cleaned on a chair in the living room. She left her bra in her purse. She tied her hair up.

 

Iris lifted her head to watch Linda walk back in, and smiled, "You're so beautiful."

 

"Very funny."

 

Iris's expression was sweet but distant, "Nah. Seriously."

 

Linda sat on the floor and opened the untouched plastic bag, "You still need to eat this."

 

"I'm not actually sick."

 

"Uh, you still need to eat."

 

Iris's chest rose and fell with a heavy exhale, but she sat up and leaned against the bed, and took one of the cups and a plastic spoon. Linda let her eat quietly for a minute before asking.

 

"So... what's going on?"

 

"I just um... I guess I just woke up thinking about Eddie today. And I think about him every day, and I talk to a counselor of course, but this morning... I couldn't stop _thinking_. I didn't want to go to work like that."

 

Iris said it as matter-of-fact as possible, looking into her food instead of at Linda.

 

"Iris-"

 

"I just wish- I wish I had time to say goodbye, to tell him-" and just like that, Iris broke down. She put the food down and hid her face in her hands, pulling her knees up to her chin. Linda moved to sit next to her, to stroke her hair and anchor herself against Iris's shaking body.

 

Eventually she moved her hands from her face, and Linda put her arm around her and kissed her temple. Iris's breathing slowed down, and when her head fell on Linda's shoulder, she wondered if she had fallen asleep. Linda went over everything she could possibly say. None of it felt right. She said nothing. Iris's voice was weak when she spoke.

 

"Thanks. Can you stay the night?"

 

"Yeah."

 

Linda helped Iris stand up, and moved the food to the fridge while she washed her face in the bathroom. Iris got into bed. Linda turned off the light, and crawled in beside her. She felt Iris sigh and relax.

 

"Thank you, Linda."

 

"Of course."

 

"I love you."

 

"I love you too."

 

-

 

It's Central City, and they were in public in the middle of the day, so Linda can't really claim surprise when someone starts shooting fire from their hands at civilians while she and Iris are trying to eat lunch at the new crepe place.

 

She remembered shaky fear and adrenaline, and the clunking sounds of chairs being pushed back as people stood from their tables. Then there was a harsh light coming at them, and heat, and she was pushing Iris out of the way and then wrapping herself around her in an effort to shield her. She remembered feeling an intense pain in her arm, so much that it seemed like it wasn't even part of her body. Barry- The Flash- had shown up. She had swum in and out of consciousness, images of Iris's face floating over her own, and then she'd woken up in the hospital. Iris had been there, concern and relief and anger breaking out on her face as soon as she opened her eyes.

 

"Iris-"

 

"Linda-"

 

The nurse had come in. Linda's arm was severely burned, but she had been treated and would be free to leave the hospital, and the nurse told her in a command rather than suggestion that Linda take work off to recover. The nurse walked out. Iris and Linda went back to staring at each other.

 

"Iris, are you okay? What happened?"

 

"Linda, you're in a hospital bed."

 

"The nurse said I was fine, is everyone else okay-"

 

"Linda! You could have died."

 

"Uh, yeah. You could have too."

 

Iris's mouth twisted, and she rolled her eyes,"Flash showed up and brought the guy somewhere else to fight away from people. I called an ambulance for you and another person who was on the ground-"

 

"Are they okay?"

 

Iris, interrupted, turned and looked at her with confusion, and then the crease in her eyebrows faded. Her voice was softer.

 

"Yeah. They're fine. Barry's fine, too."

 

Linda closed her eyes, grateful. She flinched only a moment after; the pain in her arm was suddenly noticeable. Iris reached out instinctively to comfort her, only to pause on realizing she couldn't do anything. She smiled ruefully.

 

"My dad and Barry are here. So are Cisco and Caitlin. They all wanted to make sure you were alright."

 

Linda grinned, and made a little mock show of flipping her hair over her popularity to try and get a laugh. Iris's mouth curved, but she just rolled her eyes for the second time, though there was no anger in it. Maybe still something sad.

 

"They offered to drive you home. Well, Barry offered to... 'walk' you home, but I figured that probably wouldn't be good for your arm. We were going to stop at my dad's house first though. Is that okay?"

 

"So you're not mad at me?"

 

Iris leaned forward and kissed her forehead, "I'm still a little mad. I understand why you did it though. I would have done the same thing."

 

"I'm sorry I scared you."

 

"Just... try not to do it again," Iris sighed, "Do you think every couple in this city has had to have this conversation at some point?"

 

Linda shrugged.

 

-

 

They drove to Joe's house quietly. Iris sat in the back with her hand over Linda's on the seat between them. Caitlin and Cisco followed them in her car. Linda sensed an impending family dinner of ordered pizzas and paper plates. Barry sat in the passenger seat and finally turned to her in the middle of the drive, his face pained.

 

"Linda-"

 

"Barry, don't even start to apologize to me for not being there faster. You saved our lives."

 

Barry bit his lip, but nodded and turned back around.

 

-

 

Dinner was confirmed for ten pizzas (Joe had hung up the phone and shook his head at Linda, "After the third time, I had to convince the delivery guy that I just throw a lot of parties.") and everyone found an excuse to leave her and Iris alone in the living room for a minute. Linda looked at her in a haze of love and relief and painkillers. Iris looked at her in amusement.

 

"You feeling okay, Linda?"

 

"I'm fine."

 

"The nurse was telling me how to change the bandages on your arm- you won't be able to do it yourself, so I just figured I could come over to your apartment after work every day, or if you'd be comfortable with it you could stay at my apartment. I could change your bandages and then make dinner-"

 

"I love you so much."

 

Iris froze in gesturing her explanation, and then her shoulders fell as she smiled, "I know."

 

She put her hands tentatively on Linda's shoulders, and seeing no wince, let them rest there as she leaned forward to kiss her lightly. Linda hummed as they pulled away from each other.

 

"Did I ever tell you that me and Barry almost had sex on this couch?"

 

Iris's face broke into a hysterical grin, "Oh my God, what?"

 

Linda was about to explain that actually it had been less the couch and more the floor, before hearing Joe's voice from behind her, "What?"

 

Linda turned around to see him standing in the room: "What?"

 

She could see Barry behind Joe, eyes wide and hands clasped as if in prayer and held to his mouth, probably trying to figure out whether or not to bail in a blur of light. Caitlin was blinking rapidly and doing her best at smiling a tense, polite smile. Cisco hands were held to his mouth, mirroring Barry, although he looked more inclined to burst out laughing than run. Joe just closed his eyes and shook his head.

 

"So... I was just on the phone with Wally- he couldn't make it, but I was letting him know you were alright. Uh. Linda. Can we talk outside?"

 

Iris's left hand tightened on her shoulder just slightly, but Linda smiled at her and the hand loosened. She followed Joe out the front door, and when he sat on the curb she sat down a respectful two feet away from him. He had been carrying two bottles, which Linda hadn't thought were significant until he tried to hand her one. She stared at it.

 

"I can't drink while I'm on painkillers."

 

"Oh, I know. Yours is root beer."

 

Linda laughed, and took it. It spilled a little into the street as she maneuvered around her bad arm; it had already been opened for her. They drank in silence, and Linda was grateful for the knowledge that it didn't matter if Joe didn't like her. Iris West loved her. It didn't matter much if anyone else didn't like her. She felt comfortable, despite the hard curb, the dull buzz in her arm, and the cold suburb air as dusk settled.

 

"I heard you told Iris that you don't think I like you?"

 

Linda's eyebrows shot up, but she laughed, "Whoa, did she tell you?"

 

"Kind of. She sort of chewed me out for it. Told me to make sure you felt more welcome the next time I saw you."

 

Linda smirked into the lip of her bottle, "Ah. Hence, the root beer."

 

"That," Joe emphasized, "and also because you saved my daughter's life today. Trust me, Linda. I like you."

 

"I like you too, Joe."

 

They clinked bottles, and Joe scratched the back of his head, "And uh, I also wanted to give you some advice."

 

"Yeah?"

 

"Don't make the same mistake I always did. Don't ever think you know what's best for Iris more than she does, just because you love her."

 

Linda sobered, and nodded, "Of course."

 

"And stay away from my couch."

 

"Oh. Oh my God, yeah. Of course. Yeah."

 

They kept drinking, staring out across the street until the pizza guy showed up.


End file.
